11 August 2009

Beaches

So, this weekend was the annual nerds go to the beach weekend. We went to the beach, with a bunch of nerds from the anime club. Bringing food to cook in the hotel rooms was a good idea, and it saved money, though heading to the Mexican restaurant in Carolina Beach to eat dinner and drink pitchers of margarita was a necessity. Going for beer afterwards may not have been required, but we did it anyway. It was actually kinda cool -- for non-draft beer, you walked into the cooler and picked up a bottle you wanted. I tried Sam Adams' Blackberry Wit. It was pretty good, actually.

The ocean tried to kill me. The waves were rougher than I can remember on any beach trips over the last 8 years or so, and it seemed like the tide was always coming in. (It was a full moon.) I didn't get to spend much time in the ocean, because I don't like waves going over my head, and when I was standing in shallow enough water (waist deep or so), I got caught in an outgoing wave while an incoming one was breaking. So I sat in my chair on the sand and watched.

The weekend before last I was in Oregon for a family reunion-y thing on the husband's side. They're all outdoorsy, hiking types, so I spent most of the weekend alone and bored. Though the call of free wifi at Timberline Lodge was hard to resist, so I went up there for a few hours one day to attempt to catch up on my intarwebs.

That also involved a lot of cooking at home, and I was roped into making vegetarian food the night steak was the main course. Here is a recipe for the improvised grilled tofu I made. It turned out well. Since tofu is a sponge for other flavors, it mostly tasted like balsamic vinegar, which I won't complain about.

Thankfully, I have nothing on tap for the coming weekend. The following weekend I'm working, then I have one off, then it's Dragon*Con. I need to get sewing on my costume. I cut the pattern out of the giant sheet of paper, but I need to trace it and alter it a hair (I'm short, so I always have to shorten the back length) then mark, cut, and sew. Should be ... fun. At least it doesn't require extreme fitting like the Victorian ones.

Also, it's revoltingly hot here. The Triangle area is the hottest spot in the southeast right now. Tomorrow it's only supposed to be 88! A break from the 100 degree stretch we've had! Hey, my bell peppers are looking to ripen nicely, at least.

I was also reminded that I didn't write anything about my Asheville trip last month. I got the pictures off the camera, finally. Maybe I'll write something later this week.